Nerdvana

by Caroline Brodeur'17

As senior at BHS Brian Mailhot puts it, Robotics is a “state of nerdvana”, a unique atmosphere that promotes problem solving and creative freedom within a group. This club at BHS has taken off and taught students crucial social and technical skills that will be translated into their career post high school.

Many students join the Robotics club because the experience would prove to be helpful in their desired career. Brian Mailhot initially joined to further explore his intention of becoming a physicist. Fast forward to present day, Brian wants to become an English professor yet never considered dropping Robotics, speaking volumes for the club and the people behind it.

Casey Carter, junior at BHS, joined Robotics with no experience because she was interested in engineering. She said, “I wanted to apply [the experience] to my future career.” Even with no prior knowledge, Brian Mailhot says, “You can go from day one, this is a screwdriver, don’t jam it in your eye… to, okay so this is a power distribution board.”

However, this knowledge comes at a price. The time commitment to Robotics is about 21 hours a week – it is one of the reasons the students involved have such a close knit relationship. The group of people in Robotics are “this eclectic and extremely diverse group of people most of whom self identify as nerds, and they’re all wonderful,” said Brian Mailhot.

Robotics aside, this club is a great way for students to meet new people through common interests. Working on a project for 6 weeks naturally draws very passionate people who want to learn and do hands on work.

Casey Carter, the aspiring engineer, reflects on what it is like being a girl in robotics, “our team is really accepting of anyone who is willing to work hard and learn, regardless of gender.” With 8 girls on the team, everyone in the club is always open to new people no matter what background.

Carter states,“there definitely is an aspect of earning respect, not exclusive to women, but it could definitely be more difficult if you’re one of few women in a male dominated field.” The inclusive nature of robotics at BHS can similarly be seen during the competitions.

At competitions, according to Brian, “two ideas that really hold central [are] the idea of gracious professionalism and coopertition.” Coopertition is seen when both teams have yet to start the competition and everyone is pitching in to not only help their own robot, but actively help the other teams. Then, as soon as they hit the playing field, they put their game faces on. Similarly, gracious professionalism is upholding respect for all team members, creating a “positive atmosphere”, said Brian Mailhot.

Casey sums Robotics up saying, “It’s all about being able to stand up for yourself and your work. If you can do that, you’re going to open doors for yourself.”